Brighton housing prices at start of December average nearly $500 a foot

The average asking price for market-rate homes in Brighton was $495 a square foot at the end of November, according to an analysis from real estate research site NeighborhoodX.

A range of $285 a square foot—for a 4,378-square-foot multifamily at 30 Dighton Street—to $859 a foot—for a 1,511-square-foot condo at 2400 Beacon Street—produced the average. There is an important caveat in the analysis, one that shows that there were really no deals to be had in what’s supposed to be one of Boston’s more affordable neighborhoods.

Per NeighborhoodX research director Constantine Valhouli: “The listings asking the lowest price per square foot are predominantly multifamily properties asking between $285 and $348 a square foot, compared to an average price for the neighborhood of $495 a foot.

“However, lest one think to themselves ‘Oh, that seems reasonable. I can get a $143,000, given 500 square feet by $285 per square foot ... it doesn’t quite work that way. These properties are essentially selling square-footage in bulk—there is nothing in this segment of the market under $800,000 or 2,300 square feet.”

Even smaller Brighton units are asking a mint. Two condos of around 500 square feet each—Unit 107 at 1 Cypress Road (pictured at top) and Unit 13 at 144 Kenrick Street—have some of the neighborhood’s highest per-square-foot prices.

“This is also because smaller units tend to command higher prices per square foot than do larger ones, even in the same neighborhood or building,” Valhouli said over email.